Geena Davis

*make grabby hands*

It began simply, when Ming Doyle posted this fabulous depiction of Sigourney Weaver as Bruce Wayne. But if you're going to give Tumblr an art prompt (draw DC comics characters as played by famous movie stars of a different gender), you better be prepared to give it a glass of milk to go with it. I mean... for the art explosion that happens next.

and let it be known

Yes, we can and will work to tell more women's stories, listen to more women's voices and write richer female characters and to fix the 5-to-1 ratio of men/women behind the camera. But consider this: In all of the sectors of society that still have a huge gender disparity, how long will it take to correct that? You can't snap your fingers and suddenly half of Congress is women. But there's one category where the underrepresentation of women can be fixed tomorrow: onscreen. In the time it takes to make a movie or create a television show, we can change what the future looks like. - Geena Davis
The veteran actress and creator of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which seeks to provide hard statistics on gender parity in film, television, and other mainstream artforms, has an essay up today on Pre-a-Reporter with a challenge for the film industry.

The Human Machine

You might recall we recently posted a photo of Geena Davis donning her old A League of Their Own costume while holding her professional archery gear. Well now we know the context. The actress and creator of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media teamed up with Funny or Die for a spectacular shoot (shoot being used here in two different contexts). I am now bumping Ms. Davis to the top of my list for women who should star in the female Expendables. And also, anything else.
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so long and thanks for all the fish

True Story: The last time I saw the tail end of A League of Their Own, I had to look away so that I didn't cry (becausethere'snocryinginbaseball). True details: I was running. On a treadmill. At the gym. And the television was on mute. One of the last times I was actually unable to not cry even by great force of will at a movie screening, it was a combination of watching The Muppets and knowing that Jim Henson's wife and daughter were in attendance.
So, from this evidence, I postulate that if there was anything guaranteed to make me cry buckets of salt tears, it would have been watching A League of Their Own with Lavonne "Pepper" Paire-Davis, who died this weekend at the age of 88.
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Meanwhile...

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Tonight at 8 p.m. on the MLB Network, Bob Costas interviews Penny Marshall about her 1992 baseball film, A League of Their Own. The film, a fictional representation of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, starred Geena Davis, Madonna, and more but as it turns out, there were a few actresses who didn't make the cut for a very specific reason - they couldn't play baseball. Listen to Marshall's stance on the casting process and find out which other famous actress didn't wind up with a part because of her husband. Catch the rest of the interview, including a chat with Davis, tonight on MLB.
(via The Hollywood Reporter)
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That's What She Said

[Davis noted] that the bulk of those shows was spent on the men trying to stop the women from using their magical powers.“This happened in several of my marriages,” Davis said wryly. -- Geena Davis on Denver Business Journal
Geena Davis was interviewed recently regarding her efforts (through her career and otherwise) to push back against gender stereotyping in media. I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched came up alongside Davis' recollections of television and movies from her childhood, and how the average ratio of male to female characters in films has remained the same since 1946: four or five men for every woman. You can read the whole interview at the DBJ.
Previously in Gender

Things We Saw Today

This weekend doesn't just mark Pride. It's also the birthday of Alan Turing, a brilliant mathematician who cracked the Enigma code, handing the Allies one of their greatest achievements of World War II, and upon whose logical leaps the basic foundations of modern computer science were laid. Turing also died at the age of 41, from what is commonly thought to be suicide, after being convicted of "indecency" (i.e., being gay) and sentenced to chemical castration. While his memorial certainly brings melancholy thoughts to mind, the way it was decorated this weekend takes us right back to hopeful ones. Happy Pride, everyone! (Boing Boing)
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